Baseball sewn covers



June 24, 1958 o. R. HAAs BASEBALL SEWN COVERS Filed April 1, 1955Inventor Otto R Haas By his Attorney United States Patent BASEBALL sEwNCOVERS Otto R; Haas, Wenharn, Mass, assignor to United Shoe MachineryCorporation, Flemington, N. 5., a corporation of New Jersey ApplicationApril 1, 1955, Serial No. 498,482

3 Claims. or. 112-262) The present invention relates to baseballs havingcovers sewn with a novel form of seam. More particularly, the inventionrelates to a ball sewn by the apparatus disclosed in United StatesLetters Patent No. 2,747,529, granted May 29, 1956, upon an applicationfiled in the name of the present inventor, of which application thepresent one is a division.

A baseball cover usually is assembled from two pieces of soft tannedhorsehide leather, each cut in bilobate, or more accurately in ellipticlemniscate, form and applied to the outer spherical surface of a ballfoundation at right angles to each other with the narrowerinterconnecting section of one piece disposed in edge abutting relationto and between the lobes of the other. The abutting edges of the coverpieces are sewed together by threads passing through the pieces acrossthe joint between their abutting edges and alternately over and undereach marginal portion at the same angle to the abutting edges. The seamuniting the edges of the cover pieces heretofore has been sewn only in acommercially acceptable manner when inserted with two threads enteringopposite cover pieces and passing alternately under and over each coverpiece.

Various attempts to provide a substitute seam for sewing baseballs notemployingthe regular under-andover type seam, commonly inserted by hand,have been made but such substitute seam usually has not been acceptable.It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide abaseball or other spherically shaped article sewn with a seam which isnot readily distinguishable from the usual one but which has manyadvantageous features not found in the usual one. "Further objects areto provide an acceptable baseball seam which is more uniform andreliable than has been possible heretofore and also to provide a mannerof finishinga baseball seam with a desirable form of self-adjustingfastening.

The improved baseball of the present invention is provided with a sewedcover composed of two bilobate pieces joined together with stitchespassing over, through and under the marginal portions of the piecesalongthe'ir abutting edges, in which there are two threads, each passingover, through and under the marginal portion of one piece exclusively,and at the same angle to the edge and into sliding interlockingengagement with the other thread passing in a similar manner,exclusively through the margin 'of the other piece. In the ballembodying this feature of the invention the seam is finished at its endsby bringing four end sections of two threads forming the seam intosliding interlocking relation at a single point, the'advantageof thisarrangement being that excessive tension in any one end section ofthread will be transferred to one or more other end sections ,with aself-adjusting action. 7 Thus, the danger of breaking the thread alongone of its end sections will largely be eliminated. This feature of itheinvention is also applicable with advantage to hand inserted seams.

' These and other teatnres'of thefiinvention,:asjherein- 2 afterdescribed and claimed will be apparent from the following detailedspecification taken in connection with the accompanying drawing inwhich,

Fig. 1 is a view of a completely sewn ball embodying the presentinvention, the ball being shown in a special cover holder,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of an improved seam inserted ina baseball cover with the cover partially folded back to illustrate themanner of completing the seam at its ends; and

Fig. 3 is a similar view illustrating the arrangement of the threads ina fully completed seam.

The usual form of baseball established by regulation and tradition hasan elastic center, surrounded by compactly wound layers of worsted andcotton 4 to provide aspherical cover supporting foundation of limitedresilience. The external dimensions of the ball foundation aremaintained uniformly within narrow tolerances and a covering is appliedin the shape of two' bilobate pieces 6 and 8 fitted about the ballfoundation with the interconnecting section of one piece disposed withedges abutting the lobes of the other piece. The edges of the pieces aredrawn against each other to give them a spherical close fitting form andto avoid exposure of the foundation or the edges themselves, thusproviding a comparatively smooth, pleasing appearance. To fasten theedges of the cover pieces together and to draw them neatly intoabutment, stitches are inserted, the exposed threads of which form aseam of herringbone configuration centered along the line of abutmentThe seam ordinarily is composed of two threads, crossing each otheralong the abutting cover edges, each thread of which is doubled toprovide greater strength without additional thickness. In theillustrated sewn ball of Fig. 1 and elsewhere 'in the drawing, twosingle threads 10 and 12 are shown in order to avoid confusingdelineation, although theme of double threads is contemplated in orderto provide an appearance exactly the same as that in a baseball with theusual hand sewn seam. Thus each exposed thread of the usual seamsecurely together with their edges in abutting relation and to hold thepieces rigidly in this relation throughout the life of the ball, therigidity of this type of seam frequently is a' disadvantage when takinginto consideration the use to which a baseball is put. 7

When a conventional baseball is struck with a bat or engages othernonyielding objects, it is subject to impact which the yielding centeris intended to absorb through deformation. In absorbing the impact,however, the center of the ball is flattened in line with the point ofimpact and the outer surface of the ball foundation elsewhere bulges toexert tension on the ball cover, particularly'jin' the neighborhood of aplane intersecting the cover at right angles to'the line of impact. Inbulging, a localized stretching action is applied to the cover so thatan unusual strain is produced in the stitches.

Since the threads in thestitches are connected directly from one coverpiece tothe other in the conventional ball, the stretching strain morethan likely acts to ening sufficient elasticity to cause the size of thesewing;

perforations to contract -to their I original shapes. On account of therigidity of the seam, there is little or'lno o portunity..for l calizdfidjustment. ottensicn between stitches to compensate for deformationin the ball under such impact or strain.

In the illustrated ball, the. seam composed of threads and 12 is formedbyvpassing each .thread in a con tinous .eircuit over .the marginalportion ofone cover piece, through a perforation in the marginal portionof the cover piece, across the edge and-back under themarginal portionto a succeeding perforation in the same marginal portion. Thus eachthread does not pass over and under alternate marginal portions ofthecover pieces as in the conventional baseball scam. in this respect,each thread in the present ball forms a type of individual over-edgeseam, assisting in reinforcing the edge of each piece. Connectionbetween the edges is obtained by interlocking the portions of the threadpassing across the abuttingxdges of the. pieces, the points ofinterlocking engagement between threads being obscured by the abuttingedges of the pieces. The arrangement of the scam in this manner tends togive greater flexibility and resiliency to the cover when the sewn ballis subject to impact. Because of the interlocking relation between thethreads, there also is an opportunity for sliding movement in additionto that obtained in the usual'over-andunder type of scam. The edges ofthe pieces are, for this reason, capable of limited relative lengthwisemovement along localizedar eas through the action of the threads slidingalong each other at the points of interengagement. With interlockingthreads a better adjustment of tension in both threads is obtained thanis possible with the over-and-under type of scam. Furthermore, informing the present improved seam, there is less opportunityto-overtension the threads, than withthe conventional seam, particularlyinstartinga seam. When either thread forming ,the present seam istightened, it

brings the opposite thread interlocked with it against the,

edge of the cover piece across which it is carried, enlarging the areaofpressure on .the edge by spreading it thicknesswise and providinggreater resistance to tension in the thread than is met with theconventional underand-over type of seam.

With the conventional type of baseball seam, the cover pieces are cutfrom a hide with a die which not only forms the configuration of eachcover piece but also punches outperforations along-the edge, of thepiece through whichthe sewing threads are later inserted. Theperforations punched along the edge of each cover piece are notspacedequal distances apart but ordinarily have wider spacing along theinterconnecting sectionof each bilobate configuration andnarrowerspacing along the edges ofthe lobes, so arranged as ,toimpartequal amounts of tension to the cover pieces throughout their individualareas during sewing. The manner of perforating a cover piece in this wayis'disclosed-in United States Letters Patent No. 442,147, grantedDecember, 6, 1890, upon application of B. F. Shibe. Since theperforations are punched while the hide is in a flat condition,substantial deformation occurs in the pieces as they are stretched overthe ball foundation. If there are local weak areas in a cover piece,then greater localized stretching will occur along these areas, causingthe line formed by the abutting edges to assume an irregular curvature.To facilitate conformity of a cover piece,

' it is common practice to moisten it sufiiciently to render have beenstretched intoclose fitting relation to the spheri cal foundationof the'ball. Piercing the perforations after the pieces are brought into closefitting relation to the ball foundation is accomplished with the use ofa ball holder in aparticularly desirable and' advantageous manner morefully, "disclosed in inventors patent. above noted. t r

" If the preferred typeof seam is to be inserted with overedge threads,the thread 10 is drawn through each loop formed in the thread 12 andalso exclusively through the cover piece 6, not passing through thecover piece 8. Each thread thus is passed exclusively through a marginalportion of one cover piece only and into sliding interlocking engagementwith the other thread. Thereafter, it is necessary to tighten boththreads simultaneously. In tightening both threads any variation in theline of scam being inserted may be compensated for by tightening onethread somewhat more tightly than the other to compress the edge of onecover piece more than the edge of the other cover piece, the tightenedthread sliding across the other interlocked with it. in this way theline of the seam and its appearance may be kept uniform in accurateconformity with the edges of the ball holder, comprising clampingmembers 14 and 16 which act as gages in this respect.

The end of a seam is finished in a manner correspond ing generally tothat employed in prior manual sewing operations. For this purpose theends of thread are led between the abutting edges of the cover pieces(Fig. 2) and passed inside the cover through the ball foundation (Fig. 1until they emerge through perforations in thecover pieces at somedistance along the seam from the seam end. After tightening the threadssecurely in place (Fig. 3) they are severed close to the surface of thecover pieces where they emerge.

Where a seam of the preferred type is sewn, however, it is desirable tointerlock the threads at both the beginning and final end of the seam,there being four end sections A, B, C and D of threads. The threads arebrought together into sliding interlocking relation at a single commonpoint before being passed into the ball foundation. An effectivefastening is provided for the ends after being carried into thefoundation, in which fastening the tension is self-adjusting. p

. The arrangement of the seam, however, is such thatall the interlockingsections of the thread ends A, B, C and D are concealed by abuttingedges of the cover pieces, the edges being brought into abutmentrather'than folded back, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. If theseveral threadends are carried inside the cover and through the ball foundation alongradiating paths, all at different angles to each other, no pronouncedenlargement at the beginning and final ends of the seam will benoticeable. After sewing a scam in the machine it is necessary'infinishing the seam end to employ a conventional hand needle ,18 (Fig.1). i 1

The nature and scope of the invention having been indicated and aparticular embodiment having been 'described, what is claimed is: 1. Abaseball having a sewed cover composed of two bilobate pieces joinedtogether with the interconnecting section of. each piece disposedbetween the lobes of the other and with stitches passing through themarginal portions along the abutting edges of the pieces, in which thereare two threads, each passing over, through and under successively, themarginal portion of one piece exclusively, at the same angle to the edgeof that piece, both under and over, and into sliding interlockingengagement with the other thread passing in the same manner, enclusivelythrough the marginal portion of the other piece.

. 2. A baseball having a sewed cover composed of two bilobate piecesjoined together with the interconnecting section of each piece disposedbetween the lobes of the other and with stitches passing through themarginal portions along the abutting edges of the pieces, in which thereare two threads, each passing over, through and under successively, themarginal portion of one piece exclusively, at the same angle to the edgeof that piece, both under andfover and into sliding interlockingengagement with the other thread passing in the same manner, exclusivelythrough the marginal portion of the other piece, the threads beingtightened to an extent which will cause their points of interlockingengagement to be concealed by the abutting edges of the pieces.

3. A baseball having a sewed cover composed of two bilobate piecesjoined together with the interconnecting section of each piece disposedbetween the lobes of the other and with stitches passing through themarginal portions along the abutting edges of the pieces, in which thereare two threads, each passing under, through and over the marginalportion of one piece exclusively, at the same angle to the edge of thatpiece, both under and over and into sliding interlocking engagement withthe other thread passing in the same manner, exclusively through themarginal portion of the other piece, the

four end sections of threads being brought together into interlockingrelation at a single point.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,072,102 2,006,861 Grady July 2, 1935 2,427,023 Schwartz Sept. 9, 1947Doran Sept. 2, 1913 V

